Eight fillies will line up in the Juddmonte Irish Oaks taking place at the Curragh on Saturday, following today’s declaration of runners.
Epsom Oaks runner-up Ennistymon, together with Snow, Laburnum and Passion will represent trainer Aidan O’Brien, while recent Alwasmiyah Pretty Polly Stakes runner-up Cayenne Pepper, trained by Jessica Harrington, the Joseph O’Brien-trained New York Girl and the Ger Lyons-trained pair of Yaxeni and Even So feature among the fillies who will face the starter in the 12-furlong Classic.
There is a top-class support programme to the Group 1 Classic. Seven two-year-olds will contest the prestigious Group 2 GAIN Railway Stakes with Merchants Quay, Law Of Indices, Lucky Vega and To Glory among the contenders.
The Joseph O’Brien-trained pair of Master Of Reality and Twilight Payment feature among the six runners in the Comer Group International Curragh Cup with the Aidan O’Brien-trained Memorabilis, Camphor, trained by Jessica Harrington and the Luke Comer-trained pair of Cypress Creek and Giuseppe Garibaldi also contesting the Group 2 race.
Classic and Group 1 winner Romanised is one of seven runners and a leading fancy in the Paddy Power Minstrel Stakes, with Aidan O’Brien’s Lancaster House among the opposition as Ken Condon’s charge looks to win the Group 2 race for the second successive year.
17 runners will face the starter in the Kildare Village Ladies Derby, while there are also 17 runners in the Paddy Power Scurry including four trained in Britain, nine two-year-olds will line up in the Irish Stallion Farms Maiden and 12 contest the Sentinel Ireland Equine Products Handicap.
The Curragh also hosts an eight-race programme on Day 2 of Juddmonte Irish Oaks Weekend on Sunday. Declarations for that meeting will be published shortly after 10am tomorrow.
CLICK HERE FOR LINK TO DECLARED RUNNERS FOR DAY 1 OF JUDDMONTE IRISH OAKS WEEKEND ON SATURDAY
Juddmonte Irish Oaks
Paddy Power: 2 Cayenne Pepper, Ennistymon, 9-2 Snow, 11 Even So, 12 Laburnum, 14 Passion, 20 New York Girl, 25 Yaxeni
Juddmonte present Irish Oak tree to The Curragh
Juddmonte have presented an Irish Oak tree to The Curragh in recognition of their sponsorship of the Juddmonte Irish Oaks for the first time this year. The tree, which was sourced by Thomas Pakenham of Tullynally Castle in Co. Westmeath, has been planted in a prime location outside the entrance building to the racecourse by Barry Mahon, Stud Director of Juddmonte Farms Ireland and Pat Keogh, Curragh Chief Executive.
Juddmonte, who have agreed to sponsor The Juddmonte Irish Oaks for the next three years, have enjoyed a long and successful association with the Curragh since 1988 when they first sponsored the Group 2 Beresford Stakes. In 2018 they became a Group 1 sponsor with the Pretty Polly Stakes and now they are a Classic race sponsor. It is a very appropriate race for Juddmonte as they have also won the Irish Oaks three times, most recently with their great mare Enable.
Juddmonte will also gift an oak tree to the winning owner and to the winning breeder of the Juddmonte Irish Oaks which takes place on Saturday.
Barry Mahon, Stud Director Juddmonte Ireland, said: “His Highness Prince Khalid, his family and entire team at Juddmonte are extremely excited to be associated with such a prestigious Irish classic race and the presentation of the Oak tree to the Curragh signifies our long term commitment to the race. We have been fortunate to win the race three times and look forward to adding more successes in the future.”
Pat Keogh, Chief Executive, The Curragh, commented: “We are very grateful to Juddmonte for this very generous presentation which will be there for future generations of Curragh visitors to see. It will provide a permanent legacy of their partnership with The Curragh. The Oak tree has a strong association with County Kildare as the meaning for Cill Dara, the Gaelic for Kildare, is “church of the oak tree” and the Oak is one of the symbols included in the county flag. Planting the tree this morning really whetted the appetite for Juddmonte Irish Oaks Weekend.”
Juddmonte Irish Oaks Weekend
The Curragh has organised a variety of initiatives to celebrate Juddmonte Irish Oaks Weekend, following a successful campaign over Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby Weekend, to encourage people to have get togethers at home to watch the races and a virtual style competition. Information is available at www.curragh.ie/juddmonte-irish-oaks-festival
A free interactive digital race card will be available to download for each race day 24 hours in advance of the meeting and there will be plenty of opportunities to watch the races at home. In addition to Racing TV covering all races, RTE televise four live races on Saturday, the Paddy Power Minstrel Stakes, GAIN Railway Stakes, Juddmonte Irish Oaks and Kildare Village Ladies Derby, while ITV4 will televise two races live on Sunday, The Kilboy Estate Stakes and Holden Plant Rental Sapphire Stakes.
Paddy Power Scurry Stakes
Paddy Power: 3 Laugh A Minute, 9-2 Urban Beat, 7 Ardhoomey, Ice Cold In Alex, 9 Romantic Proposal, 10 Gulliver, Master Matt, 12 Flaming Moon, Gloves Lynch, 14 Bungee Jump, Tommy Taylor, 16 Nordic Passage, 20 Blairmayne, 25 Cityman, 33 Gunmetal, Mid Winster, 66 Opening Verse
For further information, please contact Evan Arkwright, Racing and Sponsorship Manager The Curragh Racecourse Tel: + 353 (0) 45 441205 email: [email protected]